Need Some Advice on Napping with a Sitter

05-12-2009, 09:08 AM

My DS is almost 11 months old, and he is generally an independent baby. He plays happily on his own, at home or anywhere I take him. He doesn't have anxiety about playing with my co-workers when I bring him to meetings, barely even ever glancing over to see if I am there. I thank attachment parenting for this! The only hole in his independent streak is sleep. He has always needed to be on someone's body in the Ergo for naps and near me at night. Currently this is no problem for my DH and me, as between us we care for him during all naptimes. This summer however, there will be five weeks spread out over the summer where I run daycamps for kids, and will be gone for a full 8 hour day M-F. He will be with my mom part of the time, and my mother in law the other weeks. Starting in the Fall, he will have a sitter three afternoons a week. How can I gently get him to start napping on his own? He nurses to sleep at night, but we "wear" him to sleep for naps and I haven't been able to get him settled any other way. My mom is game to help with this transition, but her bad knee precludes her wearing/walking him during naps.
Thank you for any help you can provide!

Oh, also. . . My mother swears that I slept 6-7 hours a night from the day I was born, but that I NEVER took more than a 15 minute catnap in arms or in the car during the day. Is it crazy to think maybe he could stop napping? Or could this be the reason that I am kind of an insomniac, and therefore, I should not ever try this idea?

Comment

I've tried, but it only works if we nurse. A bottle might work, but I have had to stay with him and resettle him with the breast frequently. I read on some website, kellymom maybe, that I could heat a bag of rice, wrap it in my shirt, and sneak away, which seems worth a try. Maybe I just need to be more patient and deal with a few napless days til we can establish something new. I am pretty dependent on the Ergo since I work from home a lot and it works! I can then sit down and work on the computer while he sleeps, or clean the house or whatever I need to do. I love it and wouldn't want to change it if my circumstances didn't demand that I do so.